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Arthur Baratheon
Lord Arthur Baratheon, popularly called the Blue Stag, is a major character in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth seasons, and debuts in "The North Remembers". He was mentioned twice in the first season, and is portrayed by starring cast member John Malkovich. The brother of Lord Steffon Baratheon of Storm's End, Arthur wielded the family's ancestral sword Iron Solace, which had been bestowed upon him controversially by his brother, thereafter becoming a legendary warrior and becoming known as Arthur the Storm. When his brother died after the War of the Ninepenny Kings, the lordship fell to his son Robert and Arthur served him loyally, fighting during the War of the Usurper and the Greyjoy Rebellion, until he was shipwrecked during a mission to Essos. Upon being shipwrecked, Arthur was widely believed to have died alongside his wife and two children who were aboard the ship at the time. He was rescued by Syrio Forel from the ship, along with his family, and taken to Braavos, where he recovered over the next year. The Stormlands mourned for his loss, but in Braavos Arthur became phenomenally driven to flourish were he was - he rose to succeed Syrio as First Sword of Braavos to the Sealord. Holding this position, he worked to provide for his ailing wife, and to raise his two children in preparation for returning. By the time of the War of the Five Kings, Arthur was making plans to return with an army and support his son Stannis, to become the next ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His personal sigil is a yellow-eyed, crowned black stag rampant on a field of blue. History Background Arthur was the brother of Lord Steffon Baratheon, the Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. Born a year after Steffon, Arthur was often considered more of a stag than his brother Steffon, which stems from House Baratheon's sigil being a stag. Arthur grew up alongside Maester Cressen, who had only just started to serve House Baratheon, and the two of them became very strong friends. He was trained to fight from the age of seven, and he favoured a longsword over an ordinary sword and shield like his brother used. Indeed, he and his brother were close, but while Steffon worked to become the Lord of Storm's End, Arthur focused on becoming a soldier. When he was ten years old, their father took them to Casterly Rock to meet with Lord Tytos Lannister, and Arthur befriended a young Tywin Lannister. The two of them had a mutual disrespect towards Tytos, but Arthur was easier about that disrespect than Tywin ever could have been. Even though he made several friends, especially in court and in other regions where he liked to travel, Arthur was a very lonely child according to Cressen - he preferred solitude, some thought, but most believed that he was a melancholy man. This opinion evaporated when Prince Aerys Targaryen travelled to Storm's End and met with Ormund Baratheon. Arthur found the prince to be an overall charming man, but felt that there was something about him that was dangerous and not at all trustworthy. He voiced this to his father, who was tempted to strike his son but refused and they both agreed that Aerys was an eccentric young man. Cressen once consoled the young Arthur that the world was full of madmen, but Arthur proved to be already aware of this. When he was thirteen, Arthur had a falling out with his mother Rhaelle over the concept that Aerys was a madman, and from then on Arthur would have an unending disagreement with his mother, even though he was eventually proven correct. Arthur was squire to Ser Barristan Selmy during the War of the Ninepenny Kings, which became alternatively known as the Fifth Blackfyre Rebellion. During the Blackfyre Rebellion, he distinguished himself to Barristan by being an extremely efficient squire, almost never needing detailed commands to carry tasks out. The harshest outcome of the conflict was when Arthur and Steffon watched Maelys Blackfyre, the leader of the infidels, strike down their father Ormund in a fearsome duel. Maelys then attacked Arthur while Steffon cradled his body and Maelys left an almost fatal wound in the young squire during the violent duel that ensued between the two. The wound would be left on Arthur for the rest of his life, running from his right shoulder to the let side of his stomach. Barristan was horrified to see his squire struck down and carried him personally from the battlefield in his own arms, even though he was nearly struck by several arrows in the process. Arthur recovered, and continued to fight until he earned the phenomenal satisfaction of seeing Maelys the Monstrous struck down by Barristan soon afterwards. Determined not to leave any loose ends to the War of the Ninepenny Kings, Arthur set out on a personal crusade when the war closed, hunting down the Band of Nine, killing Spotted Tom the Butcher and Liomond Lanshare, the Lord of Battles. To this day, it is widely speculated what he did with the rest of the Ninepenny Kings, since Alequo Alarys evaded him only to be killed by his own wife. It is knwon that Samarro Saan and the Old Mother were also killed due to Arthur's crusade, but it is not known how. Because of this, when Arthur returned to Storm's End he received a demand to travel to King's Landing, where he was greeted by Prince Aerys, who brought forth Ser Barristan Selmy and bid that Arthur knelt. Barristan knighted him, calling him one of the many heroes of the War of the Ninepenny Kings and commemorating him for fighting off Maelys. Ser Arthur Baratheon was offered a place on the Kingsguard, which Aerys admitted was only an offer and not a demand: for his deeds, Arthur would be deemed the ability to choose whether or not to join. Arthur recognised that, while honour and distinction were major watchwords for him, the Kingsguard's vows of life service and inability to marry nulled his decision. He declined and only asked that he be allowed to remain in Storm's End and that he would continue to fight for his liege. With that, he left King's Landing with a cheering crowd of peasants at his back. However, even though Arthur was a hero of the Fifth Blackfyre Rebellion, his absence from Storm's End had sparked complications: Steffon had demanded that the funeral of their father be delayed until Arthur settled in his homeland at last, and Arthur's crusade had delayed this even further. Arthur attended his father's burial in Storm's End, but neither brother could bear to look at one another. It was rumoured that they fell out, but it was never confirmed, but Cressen confirmed that Steffon resented his brother for going out on a personal vendetta while he had to hold the fort in Storm's End. He also revealed that his wife, Cassana Estermont, was with child. The first, born two years later, was named Robert, then Stannis another two years later. The two children would be raised in Storm's End under Steffon's care, but when Steffon was called upon to serve on the Small Council, Arthur offered to raise them alongside Cassana - this was reasonable enough, since both children idolised Arthur, but for unknown reasons Steffon made ulterior arrangements to have Robert raised in the Eyrie by Jon Arryn. Stannis remained at Storm's End, where he squired to Arthur, who grew to greatly admire his nephew and recognise his strategic savvy. When Steffon and his wife were set to return from Volantis after a mission from King Aerys, Arthur stood beside his two nephews and saw the ship that had his brother and sister-in-law upon it sink in a storm. He knew that this would embitter the boys permanently. Robert rose to become the Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, and Arthur hoped to try and distract the siblings by arranging their futures - he worked with Lord Rickard Stark to arrange a betrothal between Robert, and Lyanna Stark, whereas he struggled to find a bride for the cold and methodical Stannis. Arthur spent a great amount of time trying to raise the youngest son, Renly, to be like Steffon, but Cressen persuaded him to allow Renly to grow up as he would - it would serve, Cressen said, to have the three Baratheons be different. Arthur endured the wild nature of Renly, and helped train him as he had done Stannis, but everything changed when he was asked to attend the Tourney of Harrenhal - he witnessed Rhaegar Targaryen's exposed interest in Lyanna Stark when he named her the Queen of Love and Beauty. He witnessed his nephew's rage at this outcome, and then when he learned that Lyanna Stark had been abducted he feared for Robert Baratheon's wrath - remembering how despondent Robert had become after his father's death, Arthur predicted disaster for the Seven Kingdoms if they ever stood between Robert and his beloved Lyanna. During Robert's Rebellion, Robert placed Stannis in charge of Storm's End, even though many thought that the older, more experienced Arthur would have been better suited to the position. Robert recognised that his uncle was a proven battle commander and he needed him by his side. He named Arthur the Lord Defender of the Stormlands and put him in charge of a huge faction of the Stormlords' army. With it, he commanded that Arthur search the Dornish Marches far and wide for Lyanna Stark. Arthur felt like reasoning with Robert, fearing that he would invoke the rage of the Dornishmen, but knew that it made no difference when House Martell joined the Targaryens in battling Robert. With a force of nearly twelve thousand men, Arthur scoured the Dornish Marches and the Reach, and even journeyed to Starfall and Summerhall, but he was unable to find him. Seeing this as an outrageous intrusion, Aerys sent Gerold Hightower to meet with the Stormlord in battle at what became known as the Battle of the Prince's Pass, where Gerold Hightower and Arthur Baratheon battled fearsomely for a day and night, until Arthur, even though his army was scattered, forced the White Bull into retreat when he killed several of his lieutenants in combat, winning the battle and forcing the White Bull to flee - in fact, Gerold Hightower vanished. Fresh from the victory at the Prince's Pass, Arthur was called to arms to return for the Battle of the Trident, with Robet declaring that Rhaegar Targaryen had resurfaced at last and had marched to the Trident in the Riverlands, amassing a huge army. Before he left, Arthur sent a letter to Winterfell and Storm's End, stating that he had heard rumours that Rhaegar had come from the Tower of Joy in Dorne. He then travelled tirelessly to the Riverlands, where he rejoined his nephew and the two of them faced the royalists in open combat on the Red Fork. In the midst of the battle, Arthur and Ser Barristan Selmy led opposing sections of their armies. Barristan came close to fighting his former prodigy, but he was wounded several times before it came to that, and Arthur had him carried him from the battlefield, as Barristan had done so long ago. Arthur searched for his nephew in the aftermath of the battle and found him standing over the corpse of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Arthur brought Barristan Selmy's body to Robert, who demanded that the knight be healed by his own maester. Following the end of the War of the Usurper, Arthur returned to Storm's End and ensured that Mace Tyrell had dipped his banners to Stannis. He found Stannis and his wife Selyse, just short of malnourished thanks to the efforts of Davos Seaworth. For the second time in his life, however, Arthur was called to the Red Keep where he was faced by his nephew, who raised him to the rank of lord and offered him a seat on the Small Council. To everyone's alarm, Arthur declined, wishing to spend as little time as possible in King's Landing when he was needed at Storm's End. He witnessed the violent argument between Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon over the deaths of the Targaryen children, and watched Ned leave to fight the remaining battles alone. Later, when Ned Stark returned, he ventured to Storm's End and informed Arthur that he had found Lyanna, and that he had killed Gerold Hightower and Arthur Dayne to get to her. When Arthur asked where Lyanna was, Ned didn't answer. At some point long before the War of the Usurper, Arthur married with Lady Jeyne Tyrell, the sister of Lord Mace Tyrell, and the two of them had a daughter Lilith. They agreed that, if they had a son, they would name him Ormund in honour of his dead father - many speculated that Arthur felt irreparably guilty for placing a personal crusade ahead of his family duties. He raised the two of them lovingly, but six years later House Greyjoy rebelled against the Iron Throne and invaded the North. Arthur was sent by King Robert on a mission to the Stepstones to forge a deal with the Iron Bank in order to support the war. He took his family with him, since his wife wouldn't leave without them, and the ship was upended in a storm two days into the journey. He was presumed dead at sea by the Seven Kingdoms, and Robert demanded that the Seven Kingdoms mourn for Arthur. In reality, Arthur had sped his family to a rowboat, and the two of them were picked up by a ship that was captained by Syrio Forel, the First Sword of Braavos, who rescued Arthur, Jeyne and Lilith. They recovered on the trek to Braavos, and Syrio had no idea who Arthur was - the only clue of identity was his sword, Iron Solace, which survived the journey. Syrio nursed the Stormlord back to health, but revealed that Jeyne was horribly shaken by the journey - she was going into labour as they spoke. She gave birth to a son, whom Arthur named Ormund and whom Syrio dubbed Ormund the Seaspawn, since the boy had been born after surviving a horrid sea storm. The First Sword agreed to keep Arthur's true identity a secret and, in Braavos, Arthur worked as a powerful sellsword for five years until he could buy a manse for his family near the Iron Bank - he befriended Tycho Nestoris, and through this friendship, and Tycho's own admiration of him, Arthur succeeded his rescuer Syrio as the First Sword to the Sealord of Braavos. Season 1 TBA Season 2 TBA Season 3 TBA Season 4 TBA Season 5 TBA Season 6 TBA Appearance Arthur was a huge man, broad-chested and extremely strong. He had powerful arms and round shoulders, as well as the classical Baratheon looks - in his youth, he had long dark-brown hair, but before he turned fifty it turned grey and he shaved his head. He had an iron-grey beard and sideburns, and dark blue eyes. In his old age, his eyes maintained a hard, merciless glower which had long since become his normal expression. It was often speculated that, if Robert Baratheon hadn't fallen into gluttony after he won the Rebellion, he would end up looking quite like Arthur when he reached an advanced age. Even in his fifties, his voice remained deep and powerful, and Renly remembers that when Arthur laughed it sounded like a war horn. As a young man, it was rumoured that he had shaved the rest of his body completely, but the truth of this is unknown. He often wore a deep black surcoat that was webbed with gold, and outside of battle he wore a great black cloak. He had a huge scar on his body, running from his right shoulder to the left side of his stomach, a remnant from his confrontation with Maelys Blackfyre during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. He wields the ancestral longsword of House Baratheon, Iron Solace, in battle, and it is his most prized possession. When he lived in Braavos, Arthur refrained from wearing the colours of House Baratheon, including his personal sigil of a crowned stag on a blue field. Personality and Traits Appearances Quotes In the books Category:Fanon Characters Category:Characters from the Stormlands Category:House Baratheon Category:Lords Category:Knights Category:Warrior Category:Under construction Category:Mentioned Characters Category:Male Category:Nobles Category:Status: Alive Category:Alive Category:Major Characters